Andiron



Patented June 17, 1952 UNITED STEATESE eaten- 1 N QN; amid. H- be t eHonda Ca if Application J uneZS, 195QSiiflLNnz 1 1i0,905i

6 Cl m (Cl. JET- .3)

1-: his-i y ionr a a van i Andirons las presently designed for use. in

me tic.i renl pesa er i m de p r for one or more logs. to, raise them(above, the hearth of a fireplace. While serving this limited purposeadequatelyl.conventional andirons are inei c t rom the. stan point ofutilizing radiant eathen; urn n ss- A montentjs reflection willindicatethat the major source pf, useful heat given off by burning, logs afireplace is radiant heatiemittedby the binning or incandescent logs.Convection can.- no play an important partQin transfer ofheat figgrn aiir eplace to aroorn or other space which is being heated because thedraftnecessaryfor eera iq ep t e firep ace i t m t mm n the fireplace,thence upwardly through the flue It. isa readily observable fact thatthe hottest, incandescent part of burning, logs supported upon andi onsis the under-:surfacaoithe logs, It is precisely this area, however,which is shielded tron direct radiation to, a room. or other. spaceWhicnisbeingheated."

It has been, proposed heretofore, in Low,- United; States patent No.890,669, granted in 1908, to provide andirons in which the logs aresupported upon rods which are pitched at an angle and which extend,upwardly, and outwardly from the main standards or posts of the,andirons. In principle this construction is superior. However, from apractical standpoint it fails in that continged combustion otf th eradiating logs is ai mltrtandlgiec ive- Iti s,' therefjore, an object ofthe present inventionto p'rovide andirons which will support burnin glpli inoandescent logs so as to radiate heat efi iciently into a room orother space which it is desired to heat, such andirons being alsoprovided with means for maintaining combustion ii ex diatin l s- Itjs'a' further biectof, the invention to provide andirons pi a characterwhich wwill support a second or auxiliary log in a position to maintaincornhustion oi the main O12 radiating logs.

It is a further andparticular object Otthe yelitiqn igp ovide ansiirons:Which satisfy theobjgcts as set forth hereinabove, and which; are ielai lr.an scqn mically c n t ed. med d sa sembled and, man pul d- It safurther particular object of the invention int yidsanandir n s isf eo ict n catgdhereinabove and which can be constructed i ii nfi vel tf s mlsd d ape -la ith a i mg iv'elcliea nsilbr o he manufacturing,

i ure 51 a pe i ec ive y w' fit e removable cross har emplo e .with an-iro s.

EllI isa imam-lante n' QtiQnaLview-or the;-

m sh n a Figure 7 1's a perspective yiew oLa-modified o m o t-c ss bar,which i it lesnopia ei r i etn w. to theidraw n sia d more par:-ticularly to Figures 1 and 2 thereof, a pair-poi andirons, each.generally designated as l theare lust at d: E wi 0i e a d ro J 0:icQmDIiseS an upright post or standard] L, The;post;-l l;, as; well asthe .othe r elements of; the v anclironsl may be constructed of standardshapes such-as square.

fv r und r s, s-i m natine he. vheed L for pe ll i b iicat d s pes h re;we ded to: e rbqttqml-pt ch OfltheapO S l a 10a su porting cantilev rmer orv J li hich extends. upwardly and outwardly iron; the; post;

at approximately a angle. Preferabl izrthd bar I2 terminates'atitsouter-end in a ro nded n I a ,w iisih as a o ativ e e I nd: a so;

voi sa l fixpnsedfi n e ge- 1 Als rt roundes tips; I21; as ist inloadinglogs," as. will be ex lained hereinafter, It will beseen thatthebar,-I2-,:

togethQR-with the. .postnllt, forms a V-shaped cradle 13 whichisintended-toreceive and; support one endyofa supply, of logs. [4' whosemain radia ing suriaoes: are, at. MIL,

An auxiliary, rod 1'5. is; also provided for eachandironandis welded at.itsinnerend to approx imately-themideportionof the post Ila It Vextendsforwardly and downwardly there-from at l6 and upward and. outwardly at11 thereby forming a knee at l8. Legs. l 9.and 20/ are pro-.= vided, asillustrated, the outer leg ,20 being, roundedat 20.11. fordecorativevefiect, toi prevent XPQ'SlAIfiQt a sharp edgeandtofacilitate-loading of logsg H Thenauxiliary bar, 15, together withthe main, bar l2 thus providesiagenerally U-shaped, in? w ird y, tnerine-pwfle 25. which is intendedito;

receive what I call an auxiliary log shown at 26. The log 26 ispreferably considerably smaller than the main logs I4 for reasons whichwill be explained hereinafter.

Referring now to Figures 1, 5 and 6, for the purpose of providinglateral support for the andirons In, a cross-bar 21 is provided. Thecross,

bar 21 may, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 5, be constructed as asingle piece of fixed length. Alternatively, as illustrated in Figure 7,a telescopic cross bar 28 may be provided, comprising telescopic maleand female sections 29 and 30. respectively. The special advantage of atelescopic cross bar is, that it can be adjusted for logs of varyinglengths.

In either case, there is welded to each end of the bar 21 or 28, acoupling member 35 which is formed with a square socket 36 to fit overthe square upper end of the post II. If the posts II are round, theirupper ends are preferably squared. Relative turning of the andirons andcross bar is thereby prevented.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 2, the andirons ID are placedon a hearth 30 and on opposite sides thereof. They are fitted with thecross bar 2! (or 28) to provide lateral support. In the event that thetelescopic cross-bar 28 is employed, the spacing of the andirons canreadily be adjusted to the width of the hearth or the length of thelogs. A fire may be kindled in any suitable manner, as by placingkindling material in the cradle l3, igniting it, and allowing it to burnuntil hot coals drop into the ash pit 40. When the kindling is burningproperly, or after it has dropped into the ash pit in the form of hotcoals and has thoroughly heated the andirons and the fireplace, one ormore logs M will be placed in the cradle l3 by rolling them down themain bars l2. The rounded ends lZa assist in rolling and guiding thelogs. Similarly, an auxiliary log 26 will be rolled onto the auxiliaryrods I5.

The path of the draft is indicated by the broken line 31 and thedirection of radiation by the arrows 38. It will be apparent that, as

the main logs l4 burn and incandesce, their hot, radiant under surfacesMa are free to radiate heat outwardly into the room or other space whichis being heated. The auxiliary log 26 will create and maintain a draftas indicated by the line 31. It will be apparent that this draftenvelopes the main logs l4 and will keep them burning.

As a matter of actual experience, andirons of the character illustratedin the drawings and described hereinabove have been constructed andemployed in a fireplace. A very marked improvement in the heatingefficiency is readily noticed, and difficulties in maintaining the mainlogs I4 in a burning, incandescent state are obviated by providing andsupporting an auxiliary log in the manner illustrated. It will also beapparent that the andirons of my invention provide a main ash pit, 40for the main logs l4 and an auxiliary ash pit M for the auxiliary log26.

It will thus be apparent that a novel type of readily adjusted tofireplaces of different widths.

The andirons operate very efficiently, both from the standpoint ofradiating the heat outwardly into a room or space which is being heated,and maintaining combustion of the radiating logs.

Other particular operating advantages of my andirons are as follows: Thelogs I 4 automatically roll downwardly toward the hottest part of thefire, i. e., toward the bottom of the cradle I3, as the lowermost log I4is consumed. The andirons may be, and preferably are placed at the rearof a hearth; therefore, smoking of the fireplace is very unlikely tooccur. The fire provided by my andirons is a brighter, more cheerfulfire than is provided by conventional andirons. Also, a single set orpair of andirons will fit a large fireplace as well as a smallfireplace, and by supplying two different lengths of cross bar 21, or byusing the telescopic bar 28, a single set of andirons can be used withshort and long logs. In operation, all that is necessary after a firehas been kindled and the logs are burning, is to replenish the logs I4and 26 occasionally, and this is facilitated by the downward slope androunded ends of the bars or rods I2 and I5.

I claim:

1. An andiron comprising a main upright frame member, an upper barextending outwardly therefrom for holding one end of a supply of mainlogs in an elevated position relative to the hearth of a fireplace andto allow heat from the under surface of the logs to radiate outwardlyfrom the fireplace, and an auxiliary rod located beneath said upper barand also extending outwardly from said main upright member, saidauxiliary rod being located to support one end of an auxiliary log in aposition to support combustion of said main logs.

2. An andiron comprising a main upright frame member, a main logsupporting member fixed .to said upright member and extending upwardlyand outwardly therefrom to provide a V-shaped cradle for supporting oneend of a supply of logs in an elevated position relatively to the hearthof a fireplace, and for access of radiation from the undersurface ofsaid logs outwardly to a room, and an auxiliary log supporting memberdisposed beneath said main log supporting member and extending outwardlyfrom said upright member for supporting one end of an auxiliary logbeneath said main logs to support combustion thereof.

3. An andiron comprising a main upright frame member, a main logsupporting member fixed to said upright member and extending upwardlyand outwardly therefrom, and an auxiliary log supporting member locatedbeneath said main supporting member and extending outwardly from saidmain upright member, said auxiliary member being formed ,with a kneeconcave toward said main supporting member for cradling and supportingone end of an auxiliary log beneath the main logs to support combustionthereof.

4. An andiron comprising a main upright frame member, a main logsupporting member fixed to said upright member and extending upwardlyand outwardly therefrom, and an auxiliary log supporting member locatedbeneath said main supporting member and extending outwardly from saidmain upright member, said auxiliary member being formed with a kneeconcave to said main supporting member for'cradling and supporting oneend of an auxiliary log beneath the main logs to support combustionthereof, said auxiliary supporting member being formed with a. roundedleg at its outer end and with a leg adjacent said knee for resting upona hearth and supporting the auxiliary member and log.

5. An andiron assembly comprising a pair of andirons each including anupright frame member and a log supporting member extending outwardlytherefrom, and a removable cross-piece for extending between andengaging said upright members, said cross bar being provided with squaresockets at its ends and said frame members being formed with squareupper ends to receive said sockets.

6. A collapsible andiron assembly comprising a pair of andirons eachcomprising an upright frame member, a forwardly and upwardly projectingmain log supporting member fixed thereto, an auxiliary log supportingmember projecting forwardly from and fixed to said frame member beneathsaid main log supporting member to support an auxiliary log formaintaining combustion of the main log, and a detachable cross bar forextending between said frame members and engageable with and detachablefrom the upper ends thereof to provide lateral support for the andirons.

HAROLD H. GILBERT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the

